ESW-V10, check!

[swestbom]

One more question, is it made in Canada or China?

Never mind, I saw a closeup photo of the Mirage Prestige S10, China.

 

[mouettus]

Never mind, I saw a closeup photo of the Mirage Prestige S10, China.

Energy stopped making speakers in Canada a couple of years ago. I think it's when they melted to API. And the Klipsch monster came by. They are going down but still offering some decent products.

 

[swestbom]

Energy stopped making speakers in Canada a couple of years ago. I think it's when they melted to API. And the Klipsch monster came by. They are going down but still offering some decent products.

I have no idea why Klipsch bought it if it was just going to let it whither on the vine by killing off the existing engineering area and replacing them, destroying the manufacturing departments and putting up a really crappy website.

This seems really bad considering all the rejects and counterfeits from the Chinese manufacturers these companies use showing up for sale on EBay.

 

[swestbom]

Frequency response and driver construction

has anyone more daring with a hex wrench than mouettus bought an ESW-V10 or Mirage Prestige S10, I have no local dealers and I still want to see the construction of the woofer on the unit before I pull the plug (I am comparing this to the SVS SB-12 Plus where the most intricate details are well photographed and tested).

I am not too keen on the sealed sub compression problem on deep bass nor the inefficiency of sealed subs (better not to produce the last few hertz than to muck it up). If the ESW-V10 produces some usable output at 20 hertz I am happy (minus 6 to 10 db), I too am more concerned with the over 25 hertz range for music than subsonic bass.

Also mouettus, I see on the thread that you have managed to get strange noises out of deep bass with them, ported subs are vulnerable below the tuning frequency without some sort of signal attenuation where they cannot handle the bass. Does it protect itself from overloads?

Finally have you tested your in room frequency response with a sound meter?

 

[mouettus]

has anyone more daring with a hex wrench than mouettus bought an ESW-V10 or Mirage Prestige S10, I have no local dealers and I still want to see the construction of the woofer on the unit before I pull the plug (I am comparing this to the SVS SB-12 Plus where the most intricate details are well photographed and tested).

I am not too keen on the sealed sub compression problem on deep bass nor the inefficiency of sealed subs (better not to produce the last few hertz than to muck it up). If the ESW-V10 produces some usable output at 20 hertz I am happy (minus 6 to 10 db), I too am more concerned with the over 25 hertz range for music than subsonic bass.

Also mouettus, I see on the thread that you have managed to get strange noises out of deep bass with them, ported subs are vulnerable below the tuning frequency without some sort of signal attenuation where they cannot handle the bass. Does it protect itself from overloads?

Finally have you tested your in room frequency response with a sound meter?

Well... the sub is rated at 23hz @ -3db. You won't get subsonic with that one that's for sure. But the reason I picked it up was because I've never heard a sub sound that tight. If you turn off the mains you can still hear the music in the low notes (crossover at 80hz), not only some muffled booming. I would've bought the 12" but they don't make it. 10" is enough for my room anyways, because I need a sub more for music than HT (you don't need an amazing sub for HT compared to music).

The farting (a little bit) came with a sweep that goes down to 3hz in the Transformers movie!!! It was very well controlled and the farting is not loud and didn't last long. milliseconds at most. I say it is a physical limitation. Nothing to call a red code on. But bass was loud and constant down to that point. Solid performer... really impressing. Came out better than any sub at future shop and a B&W I compared A/B'd. Even got to see the sellers' eyebrows lift at my local audio shop. They heard it for the fist time while I was there; product was brand new on the market.

Sorry... I don't own an SPL meter. Looking for one though. Cannot find those things locally

 

[swestbom]

Radio Shack sells them:

http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/spl-meters-mics-calibration/361-radio-shack-spl-meter-correction-values-all-new-cal-files-published.html"]http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/spl-meters-mics-calibration/361-radio-shack-spl-meter-correction-values-all-new-cal-files-published.html[/URL]

They have the correction values, it helped me out a lot with my Sunfire True Subwoofer. It is a great little sub and I would keep it if it were not for the auto on feature (the auto on level is fixed and is after the volume control). This is annoying to say the least for softer music or bass shy tv programs because it pops on and off after timing out (it needs about 1 second of sustained bass to stay on)

 

[mouettus]

No radioshack here anymore. Has been sold to Circuit City. Called The Source now. No SPL meter around I tell ya!

 

[Davemcc]

You can order the SPL meter from sonic boom. Might as well get the Avia disc as well.
http://www.sonicboomaudio.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=537

 

[mouettus]

You can order the SPL meter from sonic boom. Might as well get the Avia disc as well.
http://www.sonicboomaudio.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=537

Thanks for the link. I'd like to have the Blu version of that disc though. DVD is a bit outdated (still good for sound). I had the Digital Video Essentials but it didn't help me very much cuz I didn't have the color filters. And it was quite hard to understand so I have up and used my good 'ol eyes and ears to calibrate

Edit: Meter alone costs 60$ + shipping. Ouch.

 

[swestbom]

Mouettus, Get some hex wrenches while you are at it.

 

[mouettus]

Mouettus, Get some hex wrenches while you are at it.

Keep whinin'!

 

[swestbom]

Keep whinin'!

I am selling my Sunfire True Subwoofer Mk IV and getting the Mirage Prestige S10 (ESW-V10). I am sick of the auto on feature (after the gain control so no way to tweak it) popping on and off after 5 minutes of no bass in quiet scenes or softer music passages that are extended if the bass doesn't last long enough for it to catch (about 1 second sustained) or the volume is too low .

I showed my wife the ESW-V10 pictures and her first comment was "who is going to dust under it with those big feet?". So the Mirage version was quickly substituted (like the reasoning? there is a logic to it, just not guy logic).

She insists the Sunfire has to be sold and out the door first so it will be a few weeks (EBay or Audiogon, not sure which yet). I will take the replacement apart and photograph its internals then run in room and outdoor (anechoic sort of or as close as I can come to it) frequency response/volume tests on it and let everyone know what it does.

I am sad that there is no way to work around the auto-on feature with the Sunfire (even asked the tech people at Sunfire and my local electronics repair guy). Auto-on with no alternative is a stupid feature when every receiver under the Sun of any quality at all has a 12 volt trigger and a simple on switch would do the trick. Triggers were common when the Mk-IV was made and are even more common now.

The Sunfire is a great subwoofer as far as performance is concerned and never fails with action movies (you cannot kill it no matter how much deep bass is in the movie or how loud it gets). But I care more about music so it is a trade off. The new EQ version is more than the spousal unit will let me spend so the Energy/Mirage is it. I just hope the Mirage is as efficient, should be with a vented enclosure and the BASH amp, my Sunfire runs cool as a cucumber even under a heavy load.

I also looked closely at the SVS SB-12 Plus but that thing is probably a power hog (unvented enclosure and bass equalization to get the last 8 hertz down to 22) and our wiring probably won't take the load. My wife already looks askance at the electricity bill so that is a no go.

I hope I like it as much as the unofficial Energy spokesperson in this forum (hmm, who could that be?)

 

[mouettus]

I hope I like it as much as the unofficial Energy spokesperson in this forum (hmm, who could that be?)

Hey! At least my avatar is not Energy and my nickname is not "AcuEnergyGuy" lollll.

That ESW-V10 is a beauty (let alone the finished corners (see pictures)) and has prestine audio quality for the price. The only problem is that it's only a 10" so it bottoms out quickly when it comes down to the 20hz (rated at 22-23hz anyways +/-3dB). Loads of power for the rest though. I haven't been deceived by this beauty yet apart from the Transformers scene (bass sweep) - normal. I'm not too sure of that one either but I think it is a bit shy on the upper bass notes. But I cross mine over at 60hz so it isn't a problem. Just smoothes out the bottom end.

Bummer for your experience with the Sunfire. I'm sure you could bypass the circuitry and just put an on/off switch...

Oh well... I hope you're going to like "our newest offering" haha.

 

[swestbom]

"Bummer for your experience with the Sunfire. I'm sure you could bypass the circuitry and just put an on/off switch."

You would think so wouldn't you, it uses a comparator circuit as part of the switch there is no way to bypass it without changing the board and you cannot get a new board.

How loud and how deep to bottom it and is it noticeable or harmful? Most ported subs put a steep low pass filter in place to keep that from happening (the Sunfire does this at about 18 hz, its passive radiator acts like a port so it would have the same issue). That is if you could use up the 2 plus inches of travel or clip the amplifier.

If it has no low pass filter on it I will just inline one before the RCA input.

I also put music ahead of movies, if all I did was use it for action movies I wouldn't be selling the Sunfire.

 

[swestbom]

that is a high pass, not a low pass filter.

 

[swestbom]

Hey! At least my avatar is not Energy and my nickname is not "AcuEnergyGuy" lollll.

That ESW-V10 is a beauty (let alone the finished corners (see pictures)) and has prestine audio quality for the price. The only problem is that it's only a 10" so it bottoms out quickly when it comes down to the 20hz (rated at 22-23hz anyways +/-3dB). Loads of power for the rest though. I haven't been deceived by this beauty yet apart from the Transformers scene (bass sweep) - normal. I'm not too sure of that one either but I think it is a bit shy on the upper bass notes. But I cross mine over at 60hz so it isn't a problem. Just smoothes out the bottom end.

Bummer for your experience with the Sunfire. I'm sure you could bypass the circuitry and just put an on/off switch...

Oh well... I hope you're going to like "our newest offering" haha.

Oh well, sold the Sunfire True Subwoofer bought the SB12 instead of the Energy, easier to blend with the room, I could kill the 10 db bump between 40 and 50 Hz with the PEQ, that did it for me. I didn't double the sales of the ESW-V10 after all.

Works great for everything over 20 hz gets stomped on by the Sunfire at that frequency (try 8 db in ultimate output, 12 at 16 hz) and lower but is better over it starting at about 25 Hz, much better in the room (versus Anechoic).

 

[Bluesmoke]

I have a question: did you compare the SVS PB10 NSD? I'm looking at the specs and it seems like the PB10 is cheaper and has better specs. I'm not putting down the ESW at all, but as you know Sub choices are pretty limited in Canada and so I was wondering how you made the decision to go with the ESW over the "obvious" choice of the PB10. Just looking for some clarification.

 

[mouettus]

I have a question: did you compare the SVS PB10 NSD? I'm looking at the specs and it seems like the PB10 is cheaper and has better specs. I'm not putting down the ESW at all, but as you know Sub choices are pretty limited in Canada and so I was wondering how you made the decision to go with the ESW over the "obvious" choice of the PB10. Just looking for some clarification.

It's not all about specs. I wanted to hear it and I got the opportunity 3 times at 2 different places and I was equally pleased all the times. There is nobody in my area that I know where I could listen to the SVS.

Furthermore, I bought it at futureshop and I like the 30-day policy. If I don't like it at home then I get a full refund, no questions asked.

 

[Sheep]

It's not all about specs. I wanted to hear it and I got the opportunity 3 times at 2 different places and I was equally pleased all the times. There is nobody in my area that I know where I could listen to the SVS.

Furthermore, I bought it at futureshop and I like the 30-day policy. If I don't like it at home then I get a full refund, no questions asked.

SVS has an in home trial... you're only out shipping, and the Canadian distributor is Ontario I believe.

SheepStar

 

[mouettus]

SVS has an in home trial... you're only out shipping, and the Canadian distributor is Ontario I believe.

SheepStar

Are you talking about sonicboomaudio? I didn't know they had an in-home trial